Pharaohs Abroad Roundup: Momen Zakaria features in Al Ahli victory

March 9 – Saudi Pro League – Momen Zakria featured as Al Ahli Jeddah narrowly beat Al Qadisiyah 1-0 in the 24th round of Saudi Professional League. Al Ahly loanee started the game on the bench and replaced Giannis Fetfatzidis in the 80th minute. Moataz Hawsawi scored Al Ahli’s goal of the game in the 55th minute after heading Amir Kurdi’s cross into the bottom left corner. In the third minute of the additional time, Zakaria tapped a low cross into the empty net, but his goal was ruled out for offside. Al Ahli are now second with 48 points, one behind leader Al Hilal.

March 9 – Saudi Pro League – Mahmoud Abdel-Razik ‘Shikabala’ remained on the bench as Al Raed sealed a 3-1 away victory against Ohod in the 24th round of Saudi Professional League. The visitors took an early lead after five minutes through Edison Luiz dos Santos. In the 32nd minute, Ismail Bangoura converted from the spot to double Al Raed’s lead, before Saleh Al-Shehri added his name to the scoresheet. Fifteen minutes away from the final whistle, Ohod pulled one back through Mamoutou N’Diaye. Al Raed raised their tally to 20 points to jump one place and take over the 13th place from Ohod who dropped to the bottom of the table with just 18 points, with a game in hand for Shikabala’s teammates.

Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet – Kasimpasa (Turkey)

March 10 – Super Lig – Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet played the whole game as Kasimpasa snatched a 2-2 draw in the last minute of the game against Sivasspor. Robinho sent Arouna Kone free as he fired the first goal for the home team and only five minutes later Kasimpasa’s hitman Mbaye Diagne gave Samuel Eduok his first goal to level the game up and end the first half 1-1. The game ended in late drama as Kone scored a brace by bagging his second from the penalty spot. In the dying minutes of the game, Trezeguet won a foul that was converted by Senegal’s Diagne to snatch the draw raising his personal tally to three goals and an assist in his last four appearances for Kasimpasa.

Essam El-Hadary and Emad Meteb – Al-Taawoun (Saudi Arabia)

March 10 – Saudi Pro League – Essam El-Hadary and Emad Meteb featured as Al-Taawoun lost 1-2 to Al-Batin in the 24th week of the Saudi Professional League. Abdulmajeed Al-Ruwaili scored for Al-Taawoun from the spot in the 20th minute and Jhonnattann Benites equalised for Al-Batin three minutes before half-time. Jorge Santos completed the come-back for Al-Batin in the 82nd minute. The result puts Al-Taawoun in the eighth place with 31 points from 24 games, while Al-Batin move into 11th place with 27 points. Al-Taawoun will next Al-Shabab on April 6 in the penultimate round of the league.

Mahmoud Abdel-Moneim Kahraba – Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)

March 10 – Saudi Pro League – Kahraba came on as a second half substitute as Al Ittihad slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Al Nassr. Bruno Uvini opened the scoring for Al Nassr however his goal was quickly neutralised by Al Aryani’s equaliser two minutes later. Al Ittihad then capitulated in the second half as Djabou and Fouzair put the game to bed for Al Nassr. Al Ittihad are now down to 10th in the table, with their next game coming after the international break against Al Ettifaq on April 6, where Kahraba may meet compatriots Ahmed El-Sheikh and Hussein El-Sayed.

Amr Barakat – Al-Shabab (Saudi Arabia)

March 10 – Saudi Pro League – Amr Barakat played the entire game as Al Shabab drew 0-0 with Al Feiha. The two teams’ close proximity in the table showed as they produced an extremely even game, as both sides struggled to make a breakthrough with just one shot on target coming from each team. Al Shabab are now up to 9th in the table, ahead of Al Ittihad on goal difference, while Al Feiha remain two points ahead in 7th place. Al Shabab’s next game is against El Hadary’s Al Taawoun on April 6.

Ahmed Elmohamady – Aston Villa (England)

March 10 – Championship – Ahmed Elmohamady played the full 90 minutes as Aston Villa defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1 in the 36th fixture of the Championship. Following the win, the Villans moved to occupy the third league spot with 69 points and are set to fave Queens Park Rangers on March 13.

Omar Gaber – Los Angeles FC (USA)

March 10 – MLS – New comers Los Angeles FC continued their domination over MLS for the second week in a row, yet Omar Gaber is still absent due to injury. LAFC crushed Real Salt Lake 1-5 in their first game away from home. After Joao Plata bagged the first goal for the home team, Bob Bradley’s troops controlled every aspect of the game, abashing their opponents with five goals. Wonder kid Diego Rossi was man of the match firing two goals and an assist, veteran Carlos Vela scored a goal and made an assist, while the remaining two goals were tapped in by Latif Blessing and Benny Feilhaber.

Aly Ghazal – Whitecaps Vancouver (Canada)

March 10 – MLS – Aly Ghazal didn’t feature as Vancouver Whitecaps won their second game in a row at MLS this season, defeating Houston Dynamo 1-2. Sierra Leone striker Kei Kamara hit the target again this week, as he opened the scoreline from the penalty spot. Alberth Elis equalised for the home team before the first half whistle and it wasn’t until the start of the second half that Brek Shea bagged Kamara’s pass to make it 1-2 to the away side securing the win for Whitecaps. The boys from Vancouver will be facing Atlanta United next weekend in attempt to continue their winning streak.

Amro Tarek – Orlando City (USA)

March 10 – MLS – Amro Tarek played the full match as Orlando City lost 2-1 to Minnesota United. Ethan Finlay opened the scoring for Minnesota in the 12th minute. Yoshimar Yotún equalised for Orlando from the spot right before half-time. Ethan Finlay completed his brace in the 79th minute. The result puts Orlando into seventh place in the Eastern Conference with one point from two games. They will next face New York City FC on March 17.

Amr Marei – Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia)

March 11 – Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 – Egyptian forward Amr Marei played the full 90 minutes as Étoile du Sahel lost 1-0 at home to Club Africain in the Tunisian “Classico” in matchday 21 of the Tunisian Ligue 1 Professionnelle. Following this result Étoile currently sit third on the league table with 39 points, three behind second-placed Club Africain.

Hussein El-Shahat – Al Ain (UAE)

March 12 – AFC Champions League – Hussein El-Shahat was left out of the squad as Al Ain drew 1-1 with Esteghlal Tehran in the fourth match of the AFC Champions League group stages. Make Thiam scored from the spot to give Esteghlal the lead in the 42nd minute. Tsukasa Shiotani equalised for ‘The Boss’ in the 78th minute. The result puts Al Ain in third place with four points from four games. They will next face Al Hilal in the fifth match on April 2. Meanwhile, Al Ain will visit Al Jazira on March 17 in the 19th week of the Arabian Gulf League where they currently sit in first place.